Many people suffer from unwanted hair growth on their face and body. While some depilatories and laser hair removal treatments offer temporary relief, various other techniques have been developed in an effort to provide for permanent hair removal. In general, these techniques have proved to be either painful, or ineffective in producing permanent hair removal.
Techniques for permanent hair removal generally fall into one of three categories: electrolytic, thermolytic, or a blend of electrolytic and thermolytic techniques. Electrolytic epilation, as applied to a method of hair removal, refers to a technique in which a galvanic or direct current (DC) is directed to the papilla of a hair in order to initiate a chemical reaction in which water and salt in the cell tissue surrounding the hair follicle are electrolyzed, so that sodium hydroxide is formed. The sodium hydroxide, being caustic, destroys the papilla, resulting in permanent hair removal.
Thermolytic epilation refers to a method of permanent hair removal in which a high frequency, or radio frequency (RF), current is applied to the hair or hair follicle. The RF current generates heat, which destroys the hair follicle.
Several devices illustrate variations on one or more of these methods. U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,363 issued to Letchworth et al., describes a machine which provides a constant direct current to a plurality of filament (wire needle) electrodes, regardless of the electrical load. The machine is also capable of providing pulsed direct current, or of reversing the polarity of the direct current. U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,709, issued to Smith et al., discloses a machine which is capable of delivering either a direct current only, a high frequency RF current only, or a blend of galvanic and RF current through a wire needle probe. U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,717, issued to J. M. M. Wehrli, teaches a barbed needle which can be used with either the electrolytic, thermolytic, or blend methods.
The foregoing patents have described devices which use an invasive technique for permanent hair removal, i.e., they all involve the insertion of a needle through the skin closely adjacent the hair follicle. Several patents describe devices directed towards non-invasive techniques for hair removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,927 to E. M. Fozard, describes a method of hair removal which uses an RF current directed through a pair of tweezers which are used to grasp the hair to be removed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,474 to Chalmers et al., teaches an epilation method which involves applying one, or preferably two, wetting fluids to the skin surrounding the hair, the wetting solutions having an ionic activity equivalent to at least 25 ppm sodium chloride in water, followed by applying an RF current to the hair through tweezers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,369 to H. L. Cole, discloses an electrolytic method of hair removal which involves applying a saline type electrode solution comprising 85% glycerin, 14% water, 0.5% salt, and 0.5% copper sulphate to the hair, and then applying a direct or galvanic current to the hair through tweezers. A series of patents issued to T. L. Mehr, Sr., and to Mehr et al., including U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,332, U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,738, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,076, teach techniques for removing multiple hairs simultaneously using either electrolytic, thermolytic, or blend techniques. The '332 patent teaches application of a multiple layer material, including a nonconductive adhesive layer against the skin, a conductive adhesive layer above the first layer, and a structural layer above the conductive layer. The '738 patent adds disclosure concerning wetting the hair with a liquid solution and using a comb to remove, multiple hairs. The '076 patent describes a conductive layer which also includes a cold wax material.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a method of hair removal solving the aforementioned problems is desired.